Boxing powerhouses go toe-to-toe

Bob Arum might be pushing 80, but he still loves a good fight.

The chairman of Top Rank Inc., whose feuds with fellow boxing promoter Don King in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s were legendary, has a new adversary. For the past few years, Arum’s company, which was formed in 1966 and is based in Las Vegas, has been duking it out with Golden Boy Promotions.

Golden Boy is operated out of Los Angeles by former world champion Oscar De La Hoya, whom Arum signed to a professional contract right after the 1992 Olympics.

Richard Schaefer, a former banker from Switzerland, is chief executive officer for Golden Boy, with De La Hoya the company’s president.

The two biggest promotional entities in boxing are engaged in a cold war. While Top Rank and Golden Boy did business together after De La Hoya left Top Rank in 2002, their relationship often was acrimonious as the seeds of the feud were sowed. However, two failed attempts in 2010 to get the sport’s two biggest stars, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., in the ring together halted their business relationship.

Each side blames the other for failing to make the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight work, and the rhetoric between the companies, even by boxing standards, has been below the belt.

"We have been in this business a long time, me since the 1960s," said Arum, 79, who during his tenure as a promoter has produced more than 600 world championship fights. "I have never, ever shanghaied a fighter, given a fighter a suitcase filled with money or offered a fighter a contract in a car just after taking a 16-hour flight."

Arum is referring to De La Hoya’s attempt to sign Pacquiao in 2006 after Pacquiao had flown to Los Angeles from the Philippines. That incident escalated the feud.

"They (Schaefer and De La Hoya) are shadier than the worst people in boxing," Arum said. "And for Oscar to participate in that really shows his true colors."

When asked if he trusted Schaefer more than De La Hoya, Arum said: "I don’t think so. I think he’s treacherous. He’s not honorable. You can’t take his word. At the first opportunity, he’ll knife you in the back."

Schaefer said he has heard Arum’s rants before against him, De La Hoya and Golden Boy. He isn’t surprised.

"I try to be positive," Schaefer, 49, said. "But when I read the attacks, I admit they hurt. I hope when I’m 80 years old I’m not attacking people. For a wealthy man like Bob to have to do that is frankly sad. It’s a time to enjoy life."

De La Hoya said: "Obviously, it’s very unfortunate that a promoter like Bob Arum, who has been in this business for 45 years, continues to be so negative. But I’m not surprised one bit. I’ve known Arum a long time, and he always needs to be in a fight with someone.

"He’s a barker and he’s very loud. Everyone knows he tries to intimidate with his bark. But he knows he can’t intimidate me or Richard."

Both companies have stars

Both companies have world champions and good, young future stars. Meanwhile, the best fights are not being made, depriving fans of what they want to see.

Arum has the biggest star in his sport at the moment in Pacquiao.

While boxing continues to drift further from the public’s consciousness, Pacquiao’s fights are popular, money-making events. Boxing fans, sports fans and nonsports fans buy the pay per view of Pacquiao’s fights because of his life story of having grown up dirt-poor in the Philippines to becoming a 10-time world champion in eight different weight divisions. He also has been elected to Congress in his country, winning by a landslide last May.

As the top fighter in Arum’s stable, Pacquiao can deliver for boxing what no one else can, especially with Mayweather currently sidelined with legal issues and unable or unwilling to continue his stellar undefeated career.

Arum, who promoted Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard — two of the sport’s legendary champions — said Pacquiao is in his own class when it comes to what he has done inside and outside the ring.

"He’s the greatest thing I’ve ever been associated with in boxing," Arum said of Pacquiao, who is 52-3-2 with 38 knockouts.

Even Schaefer, whose company signed Pacquiao in 2006 in the aforementioned bag-of-money incident in the car and eventually was sued by Arum, admits Pacquiao’s presence benefits the sport.

"It’s great for the sport when Pacquiao fights," said Schaefer, whose company is supposed to receive 5 percent of what Pacquiao makes from each fight as the result of an out-of-court settlement the two sides reached in 2007.

Pacquiao returns to the ring May 7 to face Shane Mosley, who until last fall was a fighter and a shareholder in Golden Boy. But for Mosley, a former world welterweight champion, to get a shot at Pacquiao and a $6 million payday, he had to make a difficult business decision.

Because Arum and Schaefer don’t get along, Mosley believed his only recourse to get a fight with Pacquiao was to strike out on his own.

"If I had stayed (with Golden Boy), this fight (with Pacquiao) probably doesn’t happen," Mosley said. "I wanted to fight Pacquiao, and Golden Boy was making this big campaign for (Juan Manuel) Marquez and Pacquiao."

It’s the latest episode in boxing’s biggest feud.

Had the two sides reached an agreement last year on a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, it would have been the biggest matchup the sport had seen since the 1980s when Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns dominated inside the ring and fought each other. Instead, each company has opted to use their own fighters on their own cards, and fans have not embraced the move.

For instance:

■ On Nov. 6, Juan Manuel Lopez, one of Top Rank’s best fighters, defended his WBO featherweight title against Rafael Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden. Lopez (30-0) won when Marquez (39-6), who at one time fought for Golden Boy but is currently promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, didn’t come out for the ninth round. The fight drew an announced crowd of just 4,813.

■ On Nov. 27, Juan Manuel Marquez and Michael Katsidis, two Golden Boy fighters, met for the WBA and WBO lightweight titles at the MGM Grand Garden. Marquez (52-6-1) stopped Katsidis (27-3) in the ninth round of what had been an exciting fight, but only 4,920 showed up.

■ On Dec. 11, Amir Khan, the reigning WBA junior welterweight champion, made his Las Vegas debut against Marcos Maidana at Mandalay Bay. It was a sensational back-and-forth fight between the two Golden Boy stars. Khan (24-1) won by a close unanimous decision after surviving a 10th-round onslaught from Maidana (29-2). But only 4,632 attended for what wound up being selected as the sport’s Fight of the Year for 2010 by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Even Pacquiao, who is the sport’s biggest star, didn’t generate the numbers many thought he would when his Nov. 13 demolition of fellow Top Rank fighter Antonio Margarito at Dallas Cowboys Stadium drew 41,734. Arum was hoping for 60,000 for Pacquiao-Margarito, especially given Pacquiao’s March 13 fight with Joshua Clottey — another Top Rank fighter at the time — at the same venue had drawn 50,994.

Would the numbers have been better had Top Rank fighters faced Golden Boy fighters? Possibly, though holding the Las Vegas cards close to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays probably didn’t help attendance.

Looking for the next Pacquiao

It may be more of a clash of philosophies that has resulted in the two sides not working together.

While Pacquiao is the sport’s biggest current star, both companies are constantly trying to find the next Pacquiao. Arum believes Golden Boy is a distant second to Top Rank when it comes to identifying young talent and developing fighters.

"We have no concern about that competition, because the people who are wooed by Golden Boy know that Golden Boy has absolutely no reputation for developing any talent," Arum said. "We look for guys who have ability, and because it’s an individual sport, they have to have charisma, personality and marketability.

"We have the best reputation in boxing in our era, of developing fighters and champions. These kids know that. Managers know that. We know what we’re doing and, with all due respect, they have not been able to master that because their matchmaking is disappointing and the way they present a fighter of ability to the public is not very good."

Schaefer said in the short time Golden Boy has been in existence it has produced 35 world champions and has put up some of the biggest pay-per-view fights not involving heavyweights, including the 2007 fight between De La Hoya and Mayweather, which set the record at 2.4 million buys worth $120 million.

"Rome wasn’t built overnight and neither was Golden Boy,” Schaefer said. ”But year after year, we’re involved with the big fights, including (2010) with Mayweather-Mosley, which was the biggest fight of the year at 1.4 million (pay-per-view) homes. We hold the all-time pay-per-view record, which is pretty impressive for a company that hasn’t been around for 45 years," an obvious dig at Top Rank.

Schaefer also points to the corporate partners Golden Boy has been able to attract. In addition to Tecate beer, Golden Boy also has had AT&T, Southwest Airlines and DeWalt Tools as corporate sponsors. Last year, as it launched its Fight Night Club cards in Los Angeles, it landed McDonald’s as a sponsor.

"One of the reasons boxing disappeared from free network television was sponsors would no longer support it,” Schaefer said. ”If you can come in with the sponsors, you can be back on television."

In January, Arum forged an alliance with CBS to help promote the Pacquiao-Mosley fight, which will be shown on Showtime pay per view. Arum believes it will lead to a return to boxing on free TV which, if it happens, would likely mean Fortune 500 companies lining up as sponsors.

Schaefer admits he stays out of the search for talent, leaving that to De La Hoya and matchmaker Eric Gomez. His expertise is in business, and that’s where he has concentrated his efforts to build Golden Boy.

"When I came to Golden Boy, I looked at boxing as an underappreciated asset," Schaefer said. "I knew something was broke, and that’s why I put our main effort on building relationships with the sponsors. There’s a lot of hand-holding and nurturing that goes on, but the corporate world is interested in boxing."

Arum said if Schaefer and De La Hoya focused more on Golden Boy’s talent level, perhaps he would be more inclined to do business with them.

Arum said he believes the big difference is the experience his matchmakers, Bruce Trampler and Brad Goodman, have over De La Hoya and Gomez when it comes to discovering talent and putting together fights.

That’s pretty hard for Golden Boy to come to grips with, Arum said, adding that although De La Hoya was a high-level fighter, the former six-time world champion does not have the matchmaking skills Trampler and Goodman possess.

"Oscar was a decent fighter but he’s not a scout. Guys are great players but they don’t make great scouts or managers. Bruce couldn’t have competed in the ring with Oscar, but he sees things in fighters that Oscar can’t," Arum said.

Arum also questioned De La Hoya’s commitment to making his company the best it can be.

"We have to be honest about it; his work ethic wasn’t good, even when he was fighting," Arum said of De La Hoya, who was 39-6 during his professional career. "And now, as a businessman, it’s almost deplorable. He’s out more playing golf than he is in the office. And Schaefer, who’s a good businessman, is not a boxing man."

De La Hoya, 38, who retired from fighting after losing to Pacquiao in Las Vegas on Dec. 6, 2008, said if Arum wants to question his dedication to Golden Boy, that’s fine with him.

"I guess I didn’t work very hard to win those titles," De La Hoya said tongue-in-cheek. "I know what the truth is, and I’m involved with everything we do at Golden Boy. We’re trying to make boxing better.

"If Bob Arum were a fighter, he would have been disqualified for fighting dirty."

Other promoters step in

While Top Rank and Golden Boy refuse to work together, other promoters are doing business with both companies.

King and Arum are co-promoting the March 12 super welterweight title fight between Miguel Cotto and Ricardo Mayorga at the MGM Grand Garden.

King, who has watched the Top Rank-Golden Boy feud from a safe distance in Florida, said competition is one thing but the sniping between the two sides and unwillingness to work together isn’t good for boxing.

"Anytime you have a feud, it’s unhealthy," King said. "The feud is deep-seated because it’s not just about the sport. It’s personal and that’s not good."

King said he understands and likes Arum. Even though the two often were at odds, they would agree to disagree to help promote a fight.

”These two sides, Bob and Golden Boy, they’re not even working together, and it’s a bad situation," he said.

King worked with Golden Boy when he promoted Felix Trinidad. While he said it wasn’t a great experience, King wouldn’t take any swipes. He said it was not an extraordinary relationship, "but I’m not going to justify it by calling them out."

Shaw also has worked with Top Rank and Golden Boy. He thinks it’s unfortunate to see what has transpired for the sport.

Any time two promoters of any consequence don’t work together, it’s not good for the sport, and Shaw questioned the benefit of having good fighters if promoters don’t work together.

"Arum doesn’t want his fighters to fight anyone but each other," Shaw said from his New Jersey office.

"Showtime wanted Fernando Montiel and Nonito Donaire for their bantamweight tournament, but Arum didn’t want them to participate. Instead, they’re fighting each other in Vegas (Feb. 19).

"Does that make any sense? If you’re going to do what’s best for the sport by having a tournament, have all the best fighters compete."

Shaw said the Top Rank-Golden Boy feud has allowed him to get his fighters in the ring with both companies, particularly Golden Boy.

"I like to say when one door closes, another door opens," Shaw said. "The benefit of the feud is I’ve forged a relationship with Richard. I find it very easy to do business with him."

Lou DiBella, whose New York-based DiBella Entertainment promotes one of the sport’s hottest fighters in middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, is friends with Arum and Schaefer and does business with both. He wishes everyone would get along.

"Boxing is its own worst enemy," DiBella said. "It would be better off if everyone worked together. But that’s never been the case."

DiBella said there is hope the two one day might forge a working relationship, thanks to Golden Boy joining the Boxing Promoters Association, which was formed in 2009 to get promoters to work together.

Thirty promoters are in the group. But even though Top Rank and Golden Boy are members, the association has been unable to broker a truce.

Will the two companies ever reconcile?

"As long as they behave well, as long as they have some moral backbone, it’s good," Arum said of Schaefer and De La Hoya. "But when they behave like sleazebags, it’s not good for boxing."

De La Hoya isn’t sure Golden Boy and Top Rank will co-promote anytime soon.

"I don’t think so," De La Hoya said. "I’ve come to the conclusion that Arum likes to be miserable. He likes to win and doesn’t care who he hurts.

”We have no problem putting our fighters in with Top Rank’s. But it’s got to be a two-way street and, right now, it’s a one-way street — Bob’s way."

Schaefer said: "I hope we’ll work together again. We don’t need to like each other, but I think we need to respect the sport.

"To tell you the truth, in a strange way, I still like the guy. He has that kind of impact on people."

In the meantime, the cold war continues.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.